Staff of One
The Staff of One is a magical object so powerful that, according to Tina Minoru, it made even the likes of the Dread Dormammu tremble. Tina Minoru received the Staff of One by unknown means. When attempting to bring their children back, Tina attacked Nico with the Staff, but instead of wounding her, the Staff was absorbed into her body. Nico accessed the staff later after accidentally being cut by Dale Yorkes's samurai battle axe. Since that time, Nico has learned how to use the Staff and has become proficient with it. When Alex Wilder revealed himself as the mole for The Pride, he briefly took control of the Staff of One along with the Fistigons, X-Ray Specs, and Old Lace. When Chase Stein left to sacrifice himself to Gibborim, he also stole the Staff of One to give Nico a chance of a normal life. During their trip to 1907, Nico was abducted by the Upward Path and the Witchbreaker, her paternal great-grandmother. Witchbreaker pushed Nico's powers to the limits, and after their encounter the Staff of One took on a new appearance and seems to have imbued Nico with new powers. Since this increase in power, Nico's abilities have expanded nearly beyond her control, and the Staff of One has begun attacking others trying to take possession of it. The Staff of One was brought with Nico when she, Chase, and fourteen other super-powered adolescents were abducted and brought to Murderworld by Arcade. Because of her magical-based abilities, Nico was chosen to face off against Apex. Unfortunately, Apex badly beat Nico, and, while controlling Chase's Darkhawk armor, force Chase to break off her left forearm and snap the Staff of One in two. With her dying breath, Nico cast one last spell. Powered by her tremendous loss of blood, the spell resurrected her, created a new magical arm for her, and reformed the Staff of One. After her resurrection, Nico appeared more distance and darker. Additionally, her new magical arm acted as a surrogate for the Staff allowing her to cast spells using the Staff's power without bleeding, but without its physical presence. After a while, she misteriously regained her arm and her staff and the powers returned to their original ways. Operation The Staff of One is powered by blood magic. To conjure and operate the staff, a blood offering must be made. This bleeding can be from a wound, small cut, and even menstruation or bleed gums. The amount of magic the Staff can perform appears to be tied to the amount of blood offered (i.e. the larger the sacrifice the more potent the spells). Other factors that appear to affect the spell casting is the clarity and/or intent. Alex Wilder once observed that the Staff of One is harder to operate than it appears. To cast spells, the user simply needs to utter a word or simple phrase. However, the Staff of One can only cast a spell once. Attempts to cast a spell a second time result in unpredictable feats of magic or have no resulting effect whatsoever. When the strength of the Staff begins to wane, it is reabsorbed into the wielder's body until they bleed to bring it forth again. Direct contact with the Staff of One appears to make spell casting easier, but more advance practitioners are able to cast spells through the Staff of One without direct contact. The Staff of One appears to have an affinity for certain individuals, but it appears that the Staff can be wielded by anyone. However, since its power upgrade with the Witchbreaker, the Staff appears to have become more discriminating about who can wield it. When the Staff of One is especially powerful and/or closely linked to its bearer, it appears to grant self-propelled flight without the need of an incantation. List of incantation All spells and incantations occurred within the Marvel mainstream 616 continuity unless otherwised specified. *'Abraham Lincoln' - Unvanished the Malibu House to prevent being shot by U.S. soldiers. Nico states she panicked when she saw the guns and just thought someone she could rely on. *'Acid Rain' - Created rain of actual acid to combat the Security Daemons in the The Hostel. ** Nico tried to use this spell a time against Marvel Boy with no effect. *'Albuquerque!' - Cast while trying to evade S.H.I.E.L.D. custody while escaping from the Massacrer's Casino. However the spell was blocked by S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Necromancers. *'And I Liked You Better Dead!' - Banished the Minorus from Nico's dream. *'Applause!' - Crushed Victorious between giant psionic hands. Used on Earth-2912. *'Away' - Teleported Nico away from Alex Wilder in a cloud of smoke. *'Back-Draft' - Extinguished a forest fire by collecting it. *'Back Up' - Repelled both Captain Marvel and Medusa while they were attempting to detain Nico. *'Balloons!' - Created giant parade float balloons to save falling helicopter. *'Black Magic' - Attacked Cullen with mystic smoke while he was in monster form. *'Be Quiet!' - Cast by Chase to force Nico to whisper. *'Be Still' - Temporarily immobilized Antimatter during a battle in space. *'Be Unmade' - Temporarily vanished Antimatter. *'Bioenergy' - Blasted a beam of energy to defend Miss America from an attacking Megalodon. Used on Battleworld. *'Blow' - Created a powerful burst of wind to topple Juston's Sentinel. *'Blunt Force' - Powered up Nico's witch arm to deliver a devastating punch. *'Bot-Splode!' - Exploded Juston's Sentinel. *'Bondage' - Cast by Alex Wilder to wrap chains around Karolina. *'Bounce House!' - Propelled attackers into the air in the Massacrer Casino. *'Brain Freeze!' - Used to literally freeze the head of a Demon will sparring at Mephisticuffs. *'Burst' - Exploded spray paint cans of two gangbangers. *'Caffeine Injection' - Temporarily supercharged Molly's powers and counteracted the fatigue that Molly usually experiences after using her powers. *'Catch More Bugs with Honey' - Reversed the demon-bug tranformation of the citizens of Ouray, Colorado. *'Canopener!' - Forced Victor Mancha out of his Iron Lad armor. Used on Earth-2912. *'Chill Out!' - Intended to make the Runaways and Young Avengers stop fighting, but instead dramatically dropped the temperature in The Hostel. ** When Nico tried to use this a second time, she merely sprayed water at Hazmat. *'Cirque du Soleil!' - Toppled the few remaining attackers while attempting to escape from the Massacrer's Casino. *'Clamp' - Clamped Gert's wound. *'Clot!' - Stopped Talkback's wound from bleeding. Used on Earth-2912. *'Cocoon!' - Trapped Val Rhymin in a silky cocoon. *'Counteret--' - Spell interrupted by an attack from an Apex controlled Chasehawk. *'Crash' - Cause the Kingpin's ninja to fall unconscious. *'Crystal Light' - Crystallized and vanished the Malibu House, Klara's vines, and Old Lace's body. *'Dance!' - Cast by Alex Wilder to unfreeze Nico. *'De-Lo-Jack Singularity' - Temporarily prevented Antimatter from locating Singularity. *'De-Meatamorphosis' - Returned Alice Michaels to her Human form. *'Decativate!' - Nico tried to use this spell a to stop Darius Davis's vehicle with no effect. Used on Earth-199999. *'Deconstruct' - Temporarily broke Wrecker into segment slices. *'Deflector Shields' - Created energy shields to deflect Marie Laveau's attacks. *'Disinfect!' - Disinfect Gert's wound. *'Detox!' - Cast by Chase to purge Reginald Mantz of his Mutant Growth Hormone and depower his Darkforce abilities. This spell was cast after attempting "Abracadabra!", "Alakazam!", and "Kabbalah!". *'Di--' - Spell interrupted by an attack from Marvel Boy. *'Dirt-Nap!' - Buried Apex and Death Locket. *'Dis-Assemble' - Disassembled Death Locket robotic arm. *'Doctor in the House!' - Teleported a podiatrist to her side. *'Dorothy Gale!' - Teleported away a podiatrist Nico summoned back to her home. *'Drain!' - Drained Gert's excessive blood in the abdomen. *'Dreamtime!' - Forced Spider-Man into a deep sleep. *'Engine Off' - Nico tried to use this spell a to stop Darius Davis's vehicle with no effect. Used on Earth-199999. *'Exit Post-Haste' - Removing the civilians from her cousin's wedding during an attack by Antimatter. *'Fallout' - Created a barrier of stone immune to radiation. *'Fix Him' - Healed the chest wound Chase had suffered during his first mission with the Young Master, but failed to fully revive him. *'Flashback' - Allowed Nico to view Heroine's memories. *'Float On' - Levitated Mr. and Mrs. Stein. *'Force Quit!' - Shut down Egghead's operating system during a battle while in Bagalia. *'Forget' - Wiped Geoffrey Wilder's memories and returned him to the past. *'Free Your Minds!' - Broke Marie Laveau's Magical-Telepathic control over the crowd. *'Freeze' - Immobilize Stacey Yorkes. This was the first spell cast by Nico with the Staff of One. ** When attempting to cast this spell a second time, Nico accidentally released a flock of pelicans. *'Freeze to the Exact Temperature and Aesthetic Appearance of a Cheap Popsicle from a 7-11' - Froze Daken. *'Fumigation' - Generated a cloud of pesticide to battle Tarantula. ** When Nico tried to use this again against Swarm, she inadvertently teleported herself and Karolina a few miles out of Los Angeles. *'Gangster' Shoes' - Encased A-Force's feet in cement and dragged them to the bottom of a nearby lake. Cast while under the thrall of Countess. *'Get to Work!' - Transfigured Chase's list into a wrench. *'Get Lost!' - Caused Hawkeye to become disoriented. *'Get Out!' - Forced Chase out of the Darkhawk armor. *'Giant Killer' - Created a giant beanstalk to envelop and crush Juston's Sentinel. *'Gimme Space' - Pushed Elsa Bloodstone onto a wall. *'Going Down' - Phased the Runaways through the floor to escape Punisher. *'Goo Be Gone' - Freed Captain Marvel and Elsa Bloodstone from some kind of goo created by Alice Michaels. *'Grim Reaper' - Killed Alice Michaels. *'Gunshot' - Fired a bolt of mystical energy at Chasehawk. *'Hands Off!' - Destroyed the Fistigons while worn by Alex Wilder. *'Heal' - Nico says she used the spell "heal" and mentioned that she often requires a spell to "heal", so she is working her way through different languages. *'Hellfire!' - Shot Hellfire flames at Spider-Man. ** Nico tried to use this spell a time against Marvel Boy with no effect. *'Help' - Nico's "death-rattle" healing spell. Powered up by her tremendous loss of blood, the spell resurrected her after her death, created a new magical arm for her, and made her stronger than before. *'Hulk Smash' - Incantation to send She-Hulk into a berserker rage. Cast while under the thrall of Countess. *'Ingenious Rock!' - Used to solidify a lava demon. *'Insulation' - Wrapped Victor Mancha and temporarily rob him of his powers. *'Keep-Our-Faces Shields' - Nico cast a spell over the members of A-Force to protect them from "face-melting" radiation during a final battle with Antimatter on the Blue Area of the Moon. *'Mud' - Launched mud at Karonlina after Nico caught her kissing Topher. *'Monarchs' - Created a swarm of glowing Monarch butterflies to light up a Silver Mine. *'Mood Ring' - Discerned if Hunter Stein was telling the truth. *'Nearly Sick to Death' - Accidentally cause both Molly and Chase to become severely ill. *'New Aorta!' - Healed Gert's aorta. *'Nightlight' - Used to light up a Silver Mine. *'Now Here Comes the Sweet Talk' - Disguised Xavin's voice to match that of Walters' deceased wife. *'Ocean View' - Repaired the Malibu House. *'Oily' - Flooded the streets of Los Angeles with oil in an attempt to stop a zombie attack. *'Old Lace To Old Yeller' - Temporarily transformed Old Lace into a small, adorable dog. *'On the Rocks!' - Attacked Juston's Sentinel with ice. *'Open Sesame' - Opened the Merchant's Trust vault when looking for the hidden Overdrive. *'Open Up' - Was intended to force Chase to reveal a deep, dark secret, but instead it caused a hidden serpent egg to hatch. *'Ouija Board!' - Summoned a ouija board to communicate with an unconcious Gert. *'Outbreak!' - Infected attackers with a pox in the Massacrer Casino. *'Pagalingin' - Filipino for "heal". Used to recover from wounds sustained during a battle with Antimatter. Nico mentioned that she often requires a spell to "heal", so she is working her way through different languages. *'Paranema' - Estonian for "heal". Used to recover from wounds sustained during a battle with Antimatter. Nico mentioned that she often requires a spell to "heal", so she is working her way through different languages. *'Pixies, Find the Leak!' - Created a swarm of pixies to find out who was spying on the Runaways. *'Please Work' - Powered Dr. Pym's machine with mystical energies. *'Pointy Sticks and Church Water' - Conjured wooden stakes and holy water to fight off the vampire Morg while in Bagalia. *'Pop' - Broke open Xavin's invisible forcefields. *'Popsicle' - Immobilized Iron Lad. Used on Earth-2912. *'Princess and the Pea!!!' - Conjured a pile of mattresses to cushion Daken's fall. *'Prodigium Effodio' - Created a psionic monster to dig into the Cube. Prodigium Effodio literally translates to "excavating monster" in Latin. *'Protect Us!' - Create a forcefield to stop bullets being shot at Nico and the others to Alex. Used on Earth-199999. *'Punish' - Fired a bolt of energy at Dr. Pym to cause great pain. *'Quicksand!' - Created a pit of quicksand under Juston's Sentinel. *'Reanimate' - Freed her A-Force colleagues from the time bubble she created. *'Recycle' - Released the fire collected by the "back-draft" spell. *'Reveal' - Revealed the secret plans of Dr. Pym and Tigra were hiding. ** When used again, it started raining. *'Revelations!' - Removed the glamouring disguising Geoffrey Wilder as his son, Alex Wilder. *'Right Now' - Blasted Cullen while he was in monster form. *'Rock and Roll' - Meant to cause a little tremor, but inadvertently caved in The Hostel burying the Runaways and the LAPD. *'Rockstars' - Fired a burst of magical rocks at Victor Mancha, but accidentally hit Old Lace. *'Rubber Soul!' - Repelled Victor Mancha's electromagnetic attacks. Used in Earth-2912. *'Safe House' - Opened a teleportation gateway to send Cammi and the Braddock Academy students to Safe Zone 3 in Murderworld. *'Scatter' - Teleported the members of the Light Brigade to different parts of the globe, but temporarily prevented the Runaways from working together. *'Sedimentary!' - Used to power a punch to destroy a lava demon. *'See clearly' - Unknown first time. When used another time, it summoned a bunch of frogs. *'Settle Down' - Used (reluctantly) to make Klara sleep during her rampage, as Chase was threatening to hurt her otherwise. *'Shield Off' - Deactived the "protect us!" spell cast by Nico. Used on Earth-199999. *'Shine On You Crazy Diamond' - Temporarily encased Ultron in a diamond. *'The Show Must Go On' - Cursed the Yorkes to go through the rest of their lives knowing that they and their daughter would die, with no ability to change this fate. *'Show Us the Way to Alex' - Led Nico and the others to Alex. Used on Earth-199999. *'Show Us Where It Hurts!' - Revealed Gert's injury was in her aorta. *'Shut Up!' - Blasted Chase into some nearby foliage. *'Slam Door' - Closed her teleportation gateway. *'Sleeping Beauties' - Caused the members of A-Force to fall asleep and robbed them of their powers. Cast while under the thrall of Countess. *'Smoke' - Created a smokescreen to cover their get away. *'Snow Globe' - Created an orb barrier to save Cammi form an avalanche. *'Solar Flare!' - Created a flame explosion when battling Juston's Sentinel. *'...Someplace Else To Be' - Teleport Nico and Chase to Bloodstone Manor. *'Spring is Sprung' - Transmorphed the Countess' dragon-fire-breath into flowers. *'Staff of One. To Me.' - Summoned the Staff of One from Apex. *'Stitches' - Nico reports to have used "stitches" in the past. *'Stone Cold!' - Encased Piledriver in magical ice. Used on Earth-2912. *'Straight Up' - Intended to revert Cullen put of his monster form, but had no effect. *'Suck Eggs, Skunkhead!' - Launched eggs at deHalle. *'Sunburst!' - Intended to stop Reginald Mantz with a burst of light, instead fed his Mutant Growth Hormone derived Darkforce powers. ** Nico tried to use this spell a time against Marvel Boy with no effect. *'Superglue!' - Suitured Gert's wounds. *'Super Magic Makeover' - Created a super magic makeover for Dazzler and Nico. *'Super Rai--' - Nico began to cast this spell to repel a demon-bug monster, but was stopped by Elsa Bloodstone. Exact effects are unknown. *'Suspend' - Traped her A-Force colleagues into a time bubble. *'Threads Regenerate' - Fixed her colleagues' clothes. *'Thunderstruck' - Shot a bolt of lightning at Death Locket. *'Time Out!' - Cast by Tina Minoru to immobilize Nico. *'Tinkerbell' - Created a swarm of fairies to light up the Malibu House when Klara buried it in vines; Nico had also hoped that the sight of these creatures would pacify Klara. *'Thirty-Eight Point Zero Two Two Seven Nine Nine Degrees N anh Negative One Oh Seven Point Six Six Nine Eight Two Oh Degrees W' - The coordinates to a safe house in Ouray, Colorado. Used by Nico to runaway from Captain Marvel and Medusa at the Triskelion. *'Transfusion!' - Gave Gert a transfusion of blood. *'Unclamp!' - Unclamped Gert's wound. *'Understand' - Allowed everyone in proximity to view the lives, and important events that helped shaped the others. *'Unworthy' - Temporarily made Dazzler Thor unworthy of wielding Lightbringer. Cast while under the thrall of Countess. *'Uproot' - Made a tree walk and produce tasty magical fruits. *'Uranium Kicks!' - Encased Marcus Roston in calves and feet in uranium boots causing him to loose his ability to fly. *'Vegan' - Prevented Maneater from attacking Nico. *'Wardrobe Malfunction!' - Caused Marie Laveau's robes to attack her. *'Wake Up!' - Awoke everyone after their encounter with Marvel Boy. *'Waterproof' - Created a large bubble used by the Runaways to travel to the underwater to the Marine Vivarium. *'What the --' - This spell was interrupted by Cullen Bloodstone and was left unfinished. *'Wings!' - Grew back mounted wings allowing Nico to fly. *'Winter is Coming!' - Conjured an ice wolf to battle Hellstrom's attack of fiery serpents. *'Xavin! Here! Now!' - Pulled Xavin away from the beach and back to the Malibu House. *'X-Ray Glasses!' - Summoned a pair of X-Ray Specs. *'Yeah, Pretty Soon, I'll Just Be a Bad Dream' - Cast by Chase to knocks Nico unconscious. *'You Suck' - Reversed Turbo's turbines, causing them to suck in air instead of blowing it out, which led to them exploding. *'Zombie Not!' - Intended to reverse the effects of Val Rhymin's zombie spell, instead caused all the zombies in the vicinity to form one big zombie - a zombie knot. List of Other Spells Not all of Staff of One's incantation are seen on-panel or on-screen. Additionally, on Earth-199999, the Staff appears to respond to both verbal and nonverbal spells. Here are the spells seen with unknown incantations. * Nico was seen conjuring bats. * Nico mentioned attempting to resurrect Alex Wilder. * Nico cast a spell to invisibly cloak the Runaways while they tried to save Marianella Mancha. * Nico enchanted a carpet with flight to travel quickly while in New York City. * Nico cast a spell to locate Molly Hayes when she was separated from the team during battle. * The Staff of One was used to created a magical muzzle to restrain Old Lace. * Nico mentions having shrunk Mole-Man when he was attacking Silverlake. * Nico once conjured a cage to imprisoned the Silver Bullet Gang. * Nico changed the Runaways' wardrobe to attire fit for the early 1900s in New York City. * Nico cast a spell to heal herself from a katana wound, but the spell didn't work that well. * Nico summoned water to immersed the streets of New York to put out a fire. * Nico once animated brooms to clean up the Malibu House. * Nico conjured a giant eagle that she could ride. * After Chase sensed Old Lace was still alive, Nico cast a spell that directed the Runaways to Reptil as a means of locating and rescuing Old Lace. * Nico cast a spell to disguise the Runaways as reporters to investigate the Avengers Academy. * Nico wrapped Striker in a rubber-band-ball-like construct to prevent him from using his electrokinetic powers during a fight. * Nico mentioned that she often requires a spell to "heal", so she is working her way through many different languages. * To allow her full use of her prehensile hair, Nico cast a spell to allow Medusa to survive in the vacuum of space without any protective gear. * To teleport the rescued citizens of Ouray, Colorado to a safe house, Nico cast a spell, likely using the words "Oak Street and Seventh". * Tina Minoru cast a sound-proof barrier around PRIDE during their ceremonial sacrifice of Destiny Gonzalez. Used on Earth-199999. * Tina Minoru temporarily sealed off Amy Minoru's room. Used on Earth-199999. * While fondly looking at one of Amy's paper snowflakes, Nico accidentally caused it to snow in her mom's home office. Used on Earth-199999. * Immediately after Amy's apparent suicide, Tina used the Staff to disrupt Nico's phone call and force Nico to sleep. Used on Earth-199999. Alternate Realities Image Description Source Runaways became Young Avengers (Earth-2912) Sister Grimm wields the Staff of One as a member of the Young Avengers. What If? House of M Vol 1 1 Marvel Cinematic Universe (Earth-199999) The Staff of One is one of many relics, items imbued with power to sustain magics that practitioners of the mystic arts cannot. Tina Minoru, a member of the Masters of the Mystic Arts, wields the Staff of One. This version of the staff appears to respond to nonverbal thoughts. In addition to obeying Tina, the staff appears to respond to Nico, but adversely reacted to Alex Wilder. When teaching Nico how to use it, Tina said that the staff is not actual magic but a high level of technology, though Nico still referred to it as high-tech magic. The staff was designed to read Tina's DNA, when she pricks her finger on the trigger so it only can work for her, but it seems to read Nico's DNA and accept her as well. Doctor Strange & Marvel's Runaways | Notes = * The Staff of One's energy signature is usually red or pink possibly because of its dependence on blood magic. | Trivia = * After using the spell "paranema" (the Estonian word for 'heal'), Nico mentioned that she often requires a spell to "heal", so she is working her way through different languages implying that the Staff of One can be used with different languages. | Links = }} Category:Unique Items Category:Magical Items Category:Runaways Equipment Category:Blood-Based Powers